NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION

File Name: 15a0041n.06

No. 14-3171

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

OLGA CELINA ROMERO-CRUZ,

Petitioner,

v.

ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney General,

Respondent.

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ON PETITION FOR REVIEW 

FROM THE UNITED STATES 

BOARD OF IMMIGRATION 

APPEALS

BEFORE: BOGGS and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges; PEARSON, District Judge.

PER CURIAM. Olga Celina Romero-Cruz, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions 

this court for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing her 

appeal from the denial of her application for withholding of removal. We deny the petition for 

review.

In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security served Romero-Cruz with a notice to 

appear in removal proceedings, charging her with removability as an alien present in the United 

States without being admitted or paroled. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). In an appearance 

before an immigration judge (IJ), Romero-Cruz admitted the factual allegations set forth in the 

notice to appear, with the exception that she claimed that she entered the United States in 

December 2002, and conceded removability as charged. Romero-Cruz filed an application for 

 



The Honorable Benita Y. Pearson, United States District Judge for the Northern District of 

Ohio, sitting by designation.
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Romero-Cruz v. Holder

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withholding of removal based on her membership in a particular social group. At the merits 

hearing, Romero-Cruz claimed membership in two particular social groups: (1) Honduran 

nurses who have had children die in their care and are blamed for the deaths by the parents and 

(2) Honduran nationals returning from the United States who are perceived by gang members as 

having money. Denying the application for withholding of removal, the IJ found that RomeroCruz was not credible and went on to conclude that, even if credible, she failed to demonstrate 

past persecution or a clear probability of persecution in Honduras. On appeal, the BIA found 

that there was no clear error in the IJ’s adverse-credibility determination and determined that, 

even if credible, Romero-Cruz did not meet her burden of proof. 

Romero-Cruz petitions this court for review of the BIA’s decision, asserting that she met 

the burden of proof for withholding of removal by establishing a clear probability of persecution

in Honduras. Where, as here, “the BIA reviews the immigration judge’s decision and issues a 

separate opinion, rather than summarily affirming the immigration judge’s decision, we review 

the BIA’s decision as the final agency determination.” Khalili v. Holder, 557 F.3d 429, 435 (6th 

Cir. 2009). To the extent that the BIA adopted the IJ’s reasoning, we also review the IJ’s 

decision. Id. Administrative factual findings, including credibility determinations, are reviewed 

for substantial evidence and “are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be 

compelled to conclude to the contrary.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); see Slyusar v. Holder, 

740 F.3d 1068, 1072-73 (6th Cir. 2014).

Romero-Cruz fails to address the IJ’s adverse-credibility determination, which was 

upheld by the BIA. Romero-Cruz has therefore waived review of that determination. See 

Shkabari v. Gonzales, 427 F.3d 324, 327 n.1 (6th Cir. 2005). In any event, substantial evidence 

supports the adverse-credibility determination. Romero-Cruz testified that she worked as a nurse 
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on a pediatric floor at a hospital in Honduras. After a child died during Romero-Cruz’s shift, the 

father returned to the hospital the following week with a knife and indicated that he was going to 

stab her, but a security guard removed him from the hospital. Romero-Cruz omitted this incident 

from her written application for withholding of removal. Romero-Cruz was adamant in her 

testimony that this incident occurred in 2002, but the police report—the only corroboration of 

this incident—stated that she filed a complaint in 2000. This discrepancy is relevant because she 

claims to have left Honduras eight or nine months after the incident. The record does not compel 

a conclusion contrary to the adverse-credibility determination, which is fatal to Romero-Cruz’s 

claim for withholding of removal. See Slyusar, 740 F.3d at 1072.

Even if we consider the merits of her claim for withholding of removal, substantial 

evidence supports the conclusion that Romero-Cruz failed to meet her burden of showing a clear 

probability of persecution in Honduras on account of her membership in a particular social group 

cognizable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). See 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A); 

Khozhaynova v. Holder, 641 F.3d 187, 192-93 (6th Cir. 2011). The alleged social group must be 

socially visible—that is, “the set of individuals with the shared characteristic would be perceived 

as a group by society.” Umana-Ramos v. Holder, 724 F.3d 667, 672 (6th Cir. 2013). There is no 

evidence that nurses who have had children die in their care and are blamed for the deaths by the 

parents are perceived as a distinct segment of Honduran society. Furthermore, Romero-Cruz 

conceded that she was unaware of any other nurses who were attacked or killed by a parent of a 

child who died in their care. As for Romero-Cruz’s claim that gang members will perceive her 

as having money because she has lived in the United States for a long time, this court has held 

that “criminal exploitation motivated by the perceived wealth of former inhabitants of the United 

States is not tantamount to persecution based on a protected ground.” Cano-Huerta v. Holder, 
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568 F. App’x 371, 373 (6th Cir. 2014); see Vindel v. Holder, 504 F. App’x 396, 398 (6th Cir. 

2012) (holding that persons perceived by Honduran gangs as having money due to their lengthy 

residence in the United States did not constitute a particular social group for purposes of the 

INA).

For the foregoing reasons, we deny Romero-Cruz’s petition for review.